If the reports appearing in the Lebanese press are accurate, Hezbollah never truly withdrew from Beirut’s airport. Instead, it appears to have simply shifted its grip one step backward, toward the outer gates and access roads.
That is exactly what makes this development so dangerous for Lebanon. Rafik Hariri International Airport is not just another facility — it is Lebanon’s main air gateway and one of the country’s last functioning lifelines at a time when the state is already hanging by a thread.
Earlier this month, the airport’s vulnerability was already exposed when fighting near the area led to the near-total cancellation of flights.
Now, if Hezbollah is once again blurring the line between civilian infrastructure and terrorist control, it is placing Lebanon’s most vital civilian asset directly in harm’s way. Reports say that at the start of the current round of fighting, Israel committed not to strike the airport because of its importance to the Lebanese government and the civilian population.
